Laura and Ryan’s Story

Ben Johnson

Our names are Laura and Ryan, I am 29 and Laura is 27. She is originally from Colombia and was here on the J1 visa working as an au pair from 2016-2018. When we decided we wanted to get married and start our lives together we began a legal journey neither of us expected to make. We knew the law was on our side but that didn’t make it any easier. Hiring a lawyer was not going to be an option for us because of the cost, so our options were going it alone or finding an organization that could help. This is where Immigrant Hope comes in. We emailed them late at night and described our situation hoping they would be able to help us. We received an email back the next morning saying that they absolutely could help and asking when we wanted to make an appointment!

We always felt that they had as much invested in our result as we did. That they truly cared about our case and gave it as much effort as they would their own.

We meet with Ben and Matt at Immigrant Hope – Bloomington, MN the next week and I remember feeling when we left that meeting that these were the people who would help us make a life together. They told us what we would need for our application and we left that meeting with a list of documents to put together. During the process of building the application we had a lot of questions about what we should do. We always felt that they had as much invested in our result as we did. That they truly cared about our case and gave it as much effort as they would their own. When we filed our application our goal was to have no mistakes, no RFE’s (request for evidence), or anything else that could slow it down. We never had anything slow us down. Without their help that wouldn’t have been possible. Our last step was the interview, we got the notice in the mail stating that it was scheduled for July 11th. We had one last meeting with Immigrant hope to prepare for our interview, practice some questions, and ensure we had all our papers in order for our big day. We got married about a year ago and at our interview on July 11th we got it! Permanent residency!

For our situation, both financial and legal, Immigrant Hope was our best option.

In our first meeting they told us what to expect and approximately how long each step would take. They were right on, every step of the way. I remember they told us in our first meeting we had “a very strong case.” That was our mantra as we waited, that everything was going to work out. For our situation, both financial and legal, Immigrant Hope was our best option. We will never forget all the work they did for us, they walked us through ever step of the process until we got to our finish line. We would recommend Immigrant Hope to anyone looking for legal assistance with immigration issues. We wouldn’t be where we are right now without their help!